Fearing the ‘Other’

I strongly suspect that (((Wife))) and I scare the shit out of many extremely religious people.  I bet dollars to donuts that my best friend does, too.  Why?  We’re boringly normal.  

Denver Missed the Memo

Since the beginning of the month, there have been three truly remarkable (remarkably disgusting, that is) cases involving the GLBT community.  Two responses:  punish everyone and blame the gays (Catholic Charities in Washington and the Iwatamba school district);  the third (Denver) didn’t get the memo.

American Jihadists? Yee-Fucking-Ha!!

I have been asked, through email and through comments, why I, as an atheist, give a flying fuck about theists — about what believers do, or think, or believe.  Why do I blog about religion and belief in god(s) if I am an unbeliever? 

There are many reasons I blog.  I blog to help me understand who I am.  I blog to poke fun at political and religious absurdity.  And I blog because I am scared abso-fucking-lutely shitless about the radical right.

Marry a Committed Lover? No. Marry a Stranger? Yes.

As I have said (written?) before, one of my best friends is gay.  He envies the relationship I have with (((Wife))).  He envies the fact that I can be married.  Here in Pennsylvania, he cannot.  Hell, we don’t even have a domestic partnership law — Pennsylvania has gone so far as to ban, by statute, gay marriage. 

Two total strangers (as long as they are of opposite sex) can get married.  An 80-year-old geezer can marry (in most states) a sixteen-year-old girl.  A death row inmate can marry a girl he only met through the mail.  Yet, in most states, gay and lesbian lovers, who may have long term, committed relationships, cannot marry.  Why not?  Religion.

Criminalizing Miscarriages?

On of the things I admire* about the radical religious right wackos is their ability to get you coming or going.  First, they fight tooth and nail against any possibility of teaching our children actual facts about reproduction, sex, and all of the various ways to prevent pregnancy (abstinence, condoms, birth control pills, sponges, aspirin, IUDs).  Then, if a girl and boy do what teenagers do and (because they have been lied to about the effectiveness of birth control) she gets a little bit preggers, they make it as difficult as possible to get a legal abortion (by intimidation (of doctors, nurses and patients at women’s health clinics) or violence (up to (and including) murder).

Out in Utah (a bastion of progressive thought), a new law has just passed out of committee.  The “bill tightens the definition of what an abortion is and removes a legal immunity for women if they intentionally try to have an illegal abortion.” (this (and all others (except where noted)) is from KCPW‘s website). 

Christianist Values: Jesus on a Sniper Scope!

Trijicon  is, by most accounts, a reputable member of the national defense establishment and the NRA.  I know that they produce excellent scopes for rifles — for hunting trophies, for meat, and for hunting humans (real quick caveat:  I do not hunt but I have no real problem with most hunters;  I also understand the ethics and efficacy of military sniping — neither is the point of this post (not that that will stop some, but . . .)).  It would appear that they are, at some level, full-blown Christianists looking to ‘save’ the Middle East (after all, those ragheads are worshipping the wrong misogynistic psychopathic ‘god(s)’) for the greater glory of the eternal paradise of  . . .   Sorry.

The Right is not Right Enough for the Right!

Off the top of my pointy little head, I can think of many, many truly uncomfortable things that I could be doing.  Getting a root canal while listening to rap music is up there near the top.  As is listening to the 1812 Overture played entirely by cats on blackboards.  Nothing that I can think of, however, could be as bad as running for office as a member of the Grand Old Party, forced to please both the religious and political radical right. 

The party has moved so far to the right that a right-winger like McCain or Snow are considered too liberal.  The teabaggers and thumpers are controlling who can, and cannot, be elected as a Republican, and it is based on faith, not fact.  Today, Saint Ronald Himself would not be an acceptable conservative.

 Two cases in point:

D.C. Council Approves Human Rights; GOP Representative Objects

Back in early December, the Washington D.C. Council decided that human rights really do apply to all humans.   The District will be joining Vermont, Iowa, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut (Maine and California voters (with heavy funding from outside the states) decided that some humans are not eligible for human rights).   

“This is a culmination of the entire gay rights movement,” Richard J. Rosendall, a past president of the Gay and Lesbian Activist Alliance of Washington D.C., said after the vote. “We have spent many, many, years working toward this.” (from the Washington Post)

Unfortunately, Washington D.C. is not a state.  It is a federal district.  Though they do have home rule now (the days of the U.S. congress voting on parking meter increases is long gone), the congress has 30 days to object.  Luckily, there is no sign of opposition.

Oh.  Wait. 

A Torture Device on a Christmas Tree

Back when I was in (I think) middle school (Western Maryland’s version of junior high) I began to hear various Christers (billboards, pamphlets, T-shirts in school (mostly (but not all) on students) and in conversation) telling me (and everyone else) to ‘keep Christ in Christmas.’  Which is when I decided that Xmas was a good way to annoy people who annoyed me.  Since then, the right-wing takeover of Christmas has continued apace (actually, I think it has accelerated with the War on Christmas idiocy).

Merry Teabagging Christmas

Teabaggers (and I’m using the political definition, not the sexual one) have a habit of making themselves look idiotic.  Stupid.  Moronic.  Insane.  And they keep finding new and better ways.  Faux New’s war on Christmas meme has permeated the radical right, both political and religious.  So it comes as no surprise that some Teabaggers have now jumped into the WoC, where they will (presumably) be stir fried.